The story of a man from Karnataka’s Haasan district fighting off and killing a leopard that had attacked him and his family is gaining much attention, according to reports in local media.
Rajagopal Naik, a resident of Bendekere village in Arasikere Taluk, Karnataka was riding on a motorbike back home with his wife Chandramma and their child Kiran when a leopard came out of nowhere and leaped at them from behind the bushes.
The leopard started to bite Kiran’s leg and also tried to attack Chandramma. With everything happening so fast, Naik was left with no time to think. He was forced to fight for his family’s survival. Rajagopal grabbed the animal by its neck and started to hit its head with his elbow. The leopard tried to break free and in the process, swiped at Rajagopal. However, Rajagopal did not let go and tightened his hold around the leopard’s neck. The leopard later died of suffocation. Rajagopal also suffered injuries to his face and forehead in the scuffle.
Rajagopal and his family were later taken to a hospital for treatment. While the Forest officials were called to the spot and the body of the leopard was taken away. The body has been sent to a veterinary hospital for an autopsy.
Surprisingly, this was not the only incident that the leopard was involved in. The Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) further added that the same leopard had earlier attacked a mother and a son in the Bhovi colony of Byragondanahalli, which is just five km away from Bendekere.
This is the second incident reported in the past two days from Karnataka of a leopard attack. On Monday, in the Mysuru district, a 12-year-old boy escaped a leopard attack after reportedly piercing the animal’s eye with his finger.
According to reports, the leopard, which was hiding nearby, pounced on 12-year-old Nandan Kumar while he was feeding his cows. And in an act of self defense, poked the leopard’s eye with his finger, causing the leopard to run away back into the bushes. Though Nandan managed to escape from the attack, he suffered bites on his neck and shoulders as the leopard had attacked him.
In another incident, a leopard was seen entering a residential apartment complex in Bengaluru recently. A team from the Forest Department captured the leopard from near an apartment off the Begur-Koppa road in the city. Another leopard was sighted inside a tourist spot Brindavan Gardens in Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district last Thursday.
Meanwhile, a stray dog found itself locked inside a toilet with a leopard for hours last Wednesday in Karnataka’s Bilinele village in the Dakshina Kannada district.
The increase in the number of sightings of leopards has worried many residents. Experts suggest that the human invasion of the wastelands near the forests has increased the probabilities of leopards being sighted near residential areas.
